Xmas Handicap Competition at Frames , Coulsdon , Surrey . 27th December

[Neil Taperell]

Was a very good turnout .........34 players entered at £20 each . Total prize fund was added to by the Club and was £900.00 .
Good prize money .

[Lils]

The only downside I can see in this is that Frames still make you pay for the tables, so £20 entry and £15 for the table makes it a little pricey for your grass roots, amateur player.

Maybe I just don't get it, but a few lightbulbs in exchange for 34 people in your venue for a minimum of 2/3 hours wouldn't have been a lot to offer, but a nice touch.

[cazmac1]

The only downside I can see in this is that Frames still make you psay for the tables, so £20 entry and £15 for the table makes it a little pricey for your grass roots, amateur player.

Maybe I just don't get it, but a few lightbulbs in exchange for 34 people in your venue for a minimum of 2/3 hours wouldn't have been a lot to offer, but a nice touch.

Wow, I would have expected the lights to be free, especially as it is a handicap. When you say £15 for the lights where did you get this figure from is this what you paid? If so that's £35 to play plus travel expenses + food and drink that won't leave much out of a bullseye. Not what I was expecting from this club at all.

[Neil Taperell]

This is a quarterly handicap comp . I believe that the comp was 1st to 5 frames in all rounds . Table fees are £6.50 per hour [Not 100% sure ]

The normal Thursday night comp is £10 to enter and is best of 3 .

Peter , if the lights are free .....how does the Club make any money ? They are actually adding to the Prize Fund in each Tournament that is played there . Any ideas you have will be greatly appreciated and I will pass the comments about the cost of the lights to Tony when i see him next .

[Lils]

This is a quarterly handicap comp . I believe that the comp was 1st to 5 frames in all rounds . Table fees are £6.50 per hour [Not 100% sure ]

The normal Thursday night comp is £10 to enter and is best of 3 .

Peter , if the lights are free .....how does the Club make any money ? They are actually adding to the Prize Fund in each Tournament that is played there . Any ideas you have will be greatly appreciated and I will pass the comments about the cost of the lights to Tony when i see him next .

With all due respect, the club will be making money over the bar from the 34 people (plus spectators) who have come for the comp.

As for the club adding prize money, with a minimum of 31 matches taking place and an average of over £10 for each light bill, there's at least £310. Add to that 34 people spending money over the bar, etc.

I just believe that with the very decent standard of player at the venue, it's just something that doesn't need to be added on top of a £20 entry fee.

Makes it an expensive day for a person who just wants to have a go and isn't any great shakes.

[Neil Taperell]

Fair point . So take the £200 added on top of the prize fund and the Club makes £110 on the tables .

Not sure what the mark up on drinks is and how many would have been sold ...........as i said , will pass comments onto Tony .

[Lils]

Wow, I would have expected the lights to be free, especially as it is a handicap. When you say £15 for the lights where did you get this figure from is this what you paid? If so that's £35 to play plus travel expenses + food and drink that won't leave much out of a bullseye. Not what I was expecting from this club at all.

My hubby has been playing snooker for 4 months but was given a -40 handicap, having to give his opponent a 20 point start each frame, even though the bloke was knocking in 30's for fun!

He lost 3-1 after both players having conceded frames two thirds of the way through when they felt they couldn't win.

The loser pays for the table, and his bill was just over £12.

I understand Frames put in £200 to the prize fund, so I reckon that would have been about half of what was taken over the counter for the light.

I respect that the venue didn't have to add anything, but it was essentially covered by the losing players.

Bit too rich for our blood, having spent around £60 after getting there at 3pm for a 4pm start and it not kicking off until gone 5pm.

As I've said, cracking club, great staff, good tables but just a bit of a downer at the end.

[Lils]

Fair point . So take the £200 added on top of the prize fund and the Club makes £110 on the tables .

Not sure what the mark up on drinks is and how many would have been sold ...........as i said , will pass comments onto Tony .

Thanks Neil.

Tony seems like a nice guy and I totally understand business is business, but I believe if you speculate to accumulate you will gain a lot more in the long run. It's the only real flaw I could point out.

[hatterboard]

dont know much about snooker, but lils is right. i think theyve done extremely well to get 34 there in the circumstances. i wouldnt be entering if i had to pay for the lights. pool an snooker comps is all about getting numbers through the doors. by adding 200 to the prize fund, they made about 100 on the lights. as she said is 100 worth any goodwill they might have got for future comps ?

[cazmac1]

With all due respect, the club will be making money over the bar from the 34 people (plus spectators) who have come for the comp.

As for the club adding prize money, with a minimum of 31 matches taking place and an average of over £10 for each light bill, there's at least £310. Add to that 34 people spending money over the bar, etc.

I just believe that with the very decent standard of player at the venue, it's just something that doesn't need to be added on top of a £20 entry fee.

Makes it an expensive day for a person who just wants to have a go and isn't any great shakes.

Agree lil's, when you take on board that in order to get a good handicap you have to enter the comp on a regular basis. This is one of the reasons I don't do handicaps. Someone visiting the club on a one off basis might have to give some ploker 50 start and then watch as he pots a red and runs for cover after every shot. Sorry Neil if your not happy with the feed back but the guy is right a few pints and some grub plus the prospect of players returning to play on other nights should be enough and it's OK banging on about the prize money but if you have to enter about 15 times to get any where near the final and your spending around £40 each time your there, their is no real prize money any way. Then you get your handicap cut just because you made the final. I entered many Pro-Ams in the last few years and I don't think I've payed more than a £10 to enter and the lights have always been free.

[hatterboard]

lils aint a guy.

[nrage]

I would rather not pay for lights in a comp either but I can see why they might want to charge for it. After all they have to cover wear and tear on tables plus electricity etc. Plus, not every player will be drinking a lot, I only drink coke when I'm playing and might not always have the time to stay for a pint or two afterwards.

The last Sunday comp I went to there was $20 entry, round-robin (due to the low numbers) and the lights/tables were covered by the all-day until 6pm £5 per table deal/fee... only I think they took £5 per player instead of per-table for some reason. Due to it being round-robin the £25 seemed reasonable as it ended up being 4 hours of snooker (which is the equivalent of paying £6.25 an hour for lights). So.. not as cheap as you and a mate going in and splitting the lights, for example, but cheaper than practicing solo.

I would be more inclined to play in round-robin style events where you're guaranteed a number of frames - than a knockout, and I'd prefer if the lights were covered somehow - like with the all-day for a £5 thing (per table involved). That to me seems like a better deal.

[cazmac1]

lils aint a guy.

It is a general post and can be applied to anyone male or female the point is the same. I feel sorry for the guy who's only been playing for 4 months and had to give from the sounds of it a very good player 20 start. This is why handicaps don't work.

[nrage]

It is a general post and can be applied to anyone male or female the point is the same. I feel sorry for the guy who's only been playing for 4 months and had to give from the sounds of it a very good player 20 start. This is why handicaps don't work.

Handicaps are hard to get right for new players and don't work all that well for inconsistent players it's true.

[ken147]

I also participated in the comp on Tuesday. On the whole I thought it was a very enjoyable day. The ONLY thing I didn't like was when I was playing a guy called ALI he was also the organizer, players would walk up to our table while we were playing and look at the fixtures chart. I thought it was very off putting for both of us as every 5 minutes or so there were people loitering around our table...

I was playing off a handicap of -12 which I think was a little mean, but I understand that it was my first comp so it is hard to judge my handicap without really seeing me play. I will play again as I like the competition and there are a fair few good players there.

BTW I saw David Gray there too, nice chap especially after a few Magners...